Wednesday, August 6, 2008

"There are instances when the heart is still beating but there is no brain" . . .

B”H

One would think that, if organ donation is good enough for a great man like Rabbi Yehuda Meshi Zahav, it should be good enough for everyone else. But no.

Now the Haredim have created an anti-organ Donation "Life" Card.

This sounds more like a “I don’t care if someone living dies because I won’t give my organs when I’m dead” card more than it sounds like a “life” card.

It seems that the Haredim don’t mind TAKING organs, but they don’t want to donate them to others who may need them. Doesn’t this break the most basic law of all, that one must save the life of another when possible, and that the preservation of life is primary, even over Shabbat?

Instead, they prefer some Kabbalistic mumbo-jumbo that says they must have every drop of blood and every part of them intact otherwise they will never get to the world beyond?

Have they have perverted Judaism to consider the “world beyond” to be a greater concern than life in the existing world? I don’t know about you, but it smells strongly of taking the customs of other religions.

I think I shall stick with Torah, thank you.

And please, when I die, if any part of me can be used to save the life of another: take it!

I would rather take my chances in the “world beyond” without a few of my body parts than sacrifice the life of another human being who might need my organs.

The ultra-Orthodox community has come up with a response to the growing popularity of Israel's organ donor, or Adi cards. The community has issued a new card called a "life card" which expressed its holders' wish not to donate organs.

The new card says "I do not give my permission to take from me, not in life nor in death, and organ or part of my body for any purpose."

The initiative came after the organ donor law, intended to regulate organ donations in compliance with Jewish law in cases of brain and respiratory death, was approved by the Knesset in March. AdvertisementShmuel Peppenheim, a spokesman for the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, said "we are promoting this card these days. We want to expand into the general public, and we know that all of Israel is loyal to the Torah and everyone wants to live and die as a Jew should live and die."

Sources within the ultra-Orthodox community told Army Radio on Wednesday that organ donation cards were actually a "method to steal organs from helpless people." The community is urging everyone to sign a "life card" and in the event of brain death, not to donate anything but simply pray for a miracle.

MK Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism) told Israel Radio on Wednesday that even the Adi organ donor card contains a clause that says that family members can consult with a rabbi of their choice. "There is a real debate regarding the exact time of death . . . There are instances when the heart is still beating but there is no brain. It isn't always unequivocal."